Auctions Collect.com shipping fees

[jim]

Just got my invoice for a high bid on last night auction. To ship one small slabbed card, high bid = $55, they want $19.18, excluding insurance. What a great way to tell bidders that they do not want repeat business. Future bidders might want to factor this in their plans.

[Matt]

Ouch. Maybe that's just the result of how some houses do invoicing where first they have some crazy huge number and then in the next day or two, it gets adjusted.

BTW, you're saying that doesn't include the BP, correct?

[jim]

Hi Matt, did not include buyer premium; that was an upfront 17% fee. Was ok with that, as it was explicit.
jim

[keithsky]

I had a problem with shipping costs with them on there first auction. can't remember the exact numbers but I won a bat and it was 100.00 or so and they wanted to charge me 25.00 shipping. I think it was figured for UPs express and I told them I live 90 mmiles from you guys and can drive there for less than that so they lowered it to UPS ground which I think was still 15 or 17.00 dollars. They did lower it though so call and ask for the cheapest price they can ship. People need to complain about high shipping costs. These auction companies already make money on sellers fees and buyer fees no need to make more on shipping. yes there are packing supplies but with say a 17% sellers fee and 17% buyers fee it is 35-40% they make and to try and milk more out of the people for shipping is crazy.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by keithsky

yes there are packing supplies

That customized packing tape is expensive!

[batsballsbases]

Those vacations on the beach are expensive to!

[Leon]

You really shouldn't have to but I would hope folks check with whomever they are having issues with before posting on a public site. That includes all companies, not just an advertiser on the board . It only seems fair to give them a shot to make it right. Again, not that you should have to but still.....

[JamesGallo]

I got a follow up email from them saying they send everything Fed Ex 2 day shich explains the shipping cost, that being said it is really stupid to send a computer generated bulk invoice.

I won a small item for $10, shipping was $19.18 and insurance was $3. I felt this was a bit stupid but got the item cheap and it was posted up front in the rules. Still someone with some common sense should look at this and say the guy is going to pay double the cost of the item just to ship it, and $3 for insurance was just insane. Regardless I won something from thier last auction and it was fine, I am sure this will be fine as well but they need to revise however the invoices get sent.

UPDATE as I was typing this I got a revised invoice and an email directly from one of the reps, it put my shipping down to $7.92 and no insurance. Very quick and professional, I just don't understand why they didn't do this in the first place.

That being said I generally don't like to wait for my items, so if I had bought something more expensive I would have paid the shipping.

James G

[Leon]

To restate my last thought, and it looks like James just corroborated it, please check with anyone (or company) about shipping charges when they are out of line. I have probably participated in at least 200 auctions and every single time I had a shipping cost issue once the company was notified it was taken care of. Again, shouldn't really have to, but..... .

[jim]

Everything I wrote was the truth and factual; I or anyone else should not be afraid to state such things. No one should be afraid to speak the truth, no matter whose toes get stepped on; be it another board member or an ad banner client. Having said all that, it is good advice to cool off and see if things can be worked out satisfactory. I surely will take that point away Leon.
jim

[Leon]

Every single advertiser, on this board, has been called out at one time or another. That is part of the deal with them having a banner here. They know I can't, and won't, protect them from what people say. A few companies wanted me to and they aren't banner advertisers anymore. How could this board be "real" if that happened? I appreciate you taking my point the way it was intended. I agree with everything you said too. regards

[blades3]

Guys, our system automatically quotes FedEx 2-day shipping and we get a residential delivery charge and signature confirmation so that's why it is initially high. We have always found that most people want their items quickly and are fine with paying for 2-day delivery. For those who don't need it right away or want a less expensive way, we state in our invoices to email us (auctions@collect.com) to request a ground delivery quote.

I'm sorry it's initially high, but we are more than happy to work with each and every customer to reduce that cost. If you go to the FedEx site and get a shipping quote, you'll quickly find out that, in almost all cases, there is no markup whatsoever for the shipping cost, shipping materials, etc.

As always, thanks for following our auctions and if there's ever an issue, please email me directly at Bloedow@collect.com. Thanks.

[JamesGallo]

[QUOTE=blades3;778850] we state in our invoices to email us (auctions@collect.com) to request a ground delivery quote.
QUOTE]

This is not true at all. I got a follow up email that said if I wanted to change the shipping to contact you. It did not say anything like that in the invoice I initially got.

I am not trying to be an ass just being very clear about what is written where. Again I have no problem paying the extra when needed, so this wasn't an issue just pointing out the facts.

James G

[blades3]

Yes, James is correct on this. The original invoice were supposed to include this reference, but did not. That's why we sent out a follow-up email to our database mentioning the ground quote for non-breakable items.